Palestinian injured, 2 arrested in Israeli attacks on olive pickers in occupied West Bank

A Palestinian was injured and two others were arrested Friday in attacks by the Israeli army and Israeli occupiers targeting olive pickers across the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian sources. In the northern West Bank, a 36-year-old Palestinian suffered bruises and other injuries after Israeli occupiers beat him in the town of Burqa, northwest of Nablus. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its teams treated the man after he fell from a height during the attack.

In Beit Dajan, east of Nablus, Israeli occupiers attacked farmers harvesting olives in the northern part of the town, prevented them from continuing their work and forced them to leave their fields, local sources told Anadolu. In Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiya, south of Nablus, Israeli soldiers chased olive pickers in the southern and eastern parts of the village and fired sound grenades toward them. More than 30 Palestinians were forced to leave agricultural land located just dozens of meters from village homes, according to local sources.

In the Al-Masoudiya area northwest of Nablus, Israeli occupiers broke into a house, damaged its door and belongings and cut power lines. In Jenin governorate, Israeli occupiers entered the eastern part of Jaba early Friday and stole equipment from a vehicle repair workshop. They also damaged three vehicles by smashing their windows and slashing their tires, and stole a car radio, other equipment and two sheep from outside Palestinian homes.

Jaba Mayor Mohammad Al-Baddad told the official Palestinian news agency Wafa that the occupiers entered the area in a vehicle and carried out the thefts and vandalism. In the central West Bank, Israeli occupiers attacked olive pickers and a foreign solidarity activist in Kafr Malik, northeast of Ramallah, according to local sources. The activist was assaulted while accompanying Palestinian farmers, while Israeli forces arrested two Palestinians harvesting olives east of the town.

In Al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, Israeli occupiers attacked olive pickers near the Jabr family's homes and opened fire toward Palestinian houses, according to local sources. On Oct. 22, the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission said it had documented 409 attacks on olive farmers, trees, land and agricultural equipment across the occupied West Bank between Oct. 1 and 21. Of those, 317 were carried out by Israeli occupiers and 92 by the Israeli army, according to the commission.

The attacks included preventing farmers from reaching their fields, forcing them to leave their land, stealing crops and damaging trees and agricultural equipment. Israeli army raids and attacks by Israeli occupiers have intensified across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October 2023, with reports of killings, arrests, home demolitions, arson attacks, the bulldozing of land and the displacement of Palestinian communities.